An aboriginal knackery worker, Humphrey, who is always seen with a bag in his hand is branded as a 'bogey man' by local kids, and parents are alarmed by rumours that he makes children 'disappear'. When a child does go missing, he stands accused of throwing him in the 'crunch-munch' machine at work, and some townspeople reach near hysteria. The Matlock police embark on a search for the missing child in the stormwater drains beneath the local abattoirs.